Thursday, October 28, 2004

Thursday Close

S&P 500 1,127.44 +.18%
NASDAQ 1,975.74 +.29%

Leading Sectors
Airlines +4.25%
Retail +1.12%
Insurance +.98%

Lagging Sectors
Energy -1.74%
Oil Service -2.32%
Iron/Steel -2.50%

Other
Crude Oil 50.99 +.14%
Natural Gas 7.-.62%
Gold 425.40 -.16%
Base Metals 112.06 -.71%
U.S. Dollar 85.23 -.23%
10-Yr. T-note Yield 4.06% -.57%
VIX 15.39 -2.10%
Put/Call .68 unch.
NYSE Arms .97 +27.63%

After-hours Movers
CSTR +7.08% after beating 3Q estimates raising 4Q guidance.
APCC +20.0% after exceeding 3Q estimates.
OTEX +8.7% after beating 1Q estimates and raising 2Q/05 outlooks.
MFE +9.2% after beating 3Q estimates and raising 4Q oulook.
USPI -6.4% after meeting 3Q estimates and cutting 04/05 outlooks.

Recommendations
Goldman reiterated Outperform on UPS, SBC and Underperform on TSG, MKL, FRX.

After-hours News
U.S. stocks finished slightly higher today on optimism over lower oil prices, diminishing terrorism fears and better earnings reports. After the close, France said Yasser Arafat is expected to arrive in Paris tomorrow for medical treatment, Bloomberg reported. Crude oil futures had the biggest two-day decline in 19 months as Chinas' first interest-rate increase in nine years may reduce growth in fuel consumption, Bloomberg said. The race between President Bush and Senator Kerry may draw the largest turnout of any US presidential contest since 1968, according to a study of vote registrations, Bloomberg said.

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished slightly lower today on declines in my steel and security longs. I did not trade in the afternoon and the Portfolio is still 100% net longs. The tone of the market was relatively positive today and action appeared to me to be a healthy consolidation after recent gains. The CRB Index and oil futures closed near their lows for the day which bode well for future declines. I continue to expect U.S. stocks to trade mixed tomorrow morning and begin moving higher later in the day.

No comments: